The Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering and Technology (IRCSET) ‘EMBARK’ Initiative and the Enterprise Partnership Scheme (EPS) offer opportunities for suitably qualified individuals to pursue a postgraduate degree by research. The Scheme supports basic research in the broad areas of Science, Engineering and Technology.

The online application system opens on Wednesday 12th January 2011 for individuals hoping to begin postgraduate research in the Republic of Ireland in 2011. Individuals awarded under the scheme must maintain their principal residence in the Republic of Ireland during the term of the Scholarship. Scholarships must be held at a recognised Higher Education Institution within the Republic of Ireland. Individuals wishing to carry out postgraduate research by registering in Higher Education Institutions outside the Republic of Ireland are not eligible to apply for funding.

While a majority of postgraduate Scholarships awarded by the Council are offered to European Union (EU) citizens, or to those who are ordinarily resident within a member state of the EU, a proportion of awards are also offered to exceptional candidates who are ordinarily resident in non EU member states
Scholarships are awarded only to those who will engage full-time in research during the period of the award.
Applications for funding under the scheme are accepted by an online application system available at our website www.ircset.ie from Wednesday 12th of January, 2011. The strict deadline for applicants to submit applications is Wednesday 16th February at 5.00 pm (GMT/ UTC) 2011.

Eligibility
IRCSET’s schemes support basic research in the broad areas of Science, Engineering and Technology. Research which is deemed not to fall within this remit is not eligible for funding.
Under this scheme IRCSET offers opportunities for suitably qualified individuals to pursue a postgraduate degree by research in a recognised third-level institution (A recognised Third Level institution must be contained in Section One of the Higher Education Act (1971) and/or be in receipt of public funding and be approved by the Minister for Education and Science for the purposes of the Free Fees Initiative).

The IRCSET postgraduate competition not accept applications from:

• Those currently registered as Ph.D. candidates
• Those currently registered for a Masters degree (by research) with the exception of:
  • Individuals in the Institute of Technology (IOT) sector in receipt of Strand 1 funding wishing to transfer to the Ph.D. register (in this case, IRCSET will support these individuals for up to a maximum of 2 years i.e. total postgraduate funded research including strand 1 funding cannot exceed 3 years)
  • Individuals registered for a Masters degree (by research) intending to complete and submit for this award and begin a significantly new research proposal to Ph.D. level

The calendar for the 2010/ 2011 competition is as follows: